The European Parliament approved a resolution calling...

The European Parliament approved a resolution calling on the parliaments of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to intensify their efforts for a rapid abolition of the death penalty and for the introduction of a moratorium on executions.
The resolution, presented by Olivier Dupuis, MEP for the Lista Bonino and a member of Hands Off Cain's board of directors, praises the Council of Europe's endeavour towards the global abolition of the death penalty. The Council of Europe had promoted a conference in Japan in May 2002, attended also by Dupuis, in support of the request made by the CE to the states it has accorded observer status (USA and Japan) to take significant steps towards abolition by January 2003, or otherwise risk their present status.
Thanking MEPs after the vote, Dupuis said: "I believe the death penalty issue is one thing in democratic countries and a totally different thing in non-democratic countries. I admit that the great majority of death penalty cases - 98%- occur in dictatorial states and because of this fact, I think the priority is perhaps not the abolition of the death penalty, but the return of these states to the rule of law and democracy. When we meet with high officials of the People's Republic of China, we find that their main argument is that there is an Asiatic approach to human rights, a sort of cultural relativism. What we must affirm is that there is no Asiatic approach to human rights. There is one universal approach to human rights and democracy. It is important to bring within the abolitionist camp countries such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and thus affirm the universality of human rights."